news-record.com

GREENSBORO — Ed Wolverton admits to being “unabashedly positive” about downtown.

He lives there, shops and dines there and as president and CEO of Downtown Greensboro Inc., he works there.

“(But) imagine the surprise,” he says, to learn that most Guilford County residents share his views.

A survey conducted as part of DGI’s recent retail market analysis shows that 93 percent of those who frequent the center city believe that a healthy downtown is important to Greensboro and the region.

And even among those who don’t visit downtown, 75 percent hold the same view.

“Some of the results are just astounding,” Wolverton says, “especially considering this is based on responses from across Guilford County.”

The survey puts downtown’s annual usage rate, or penetration, among adult Guilford County residents at 70 percent. Those represent nonwork visits.

“Those are very positive and surprising,” Blount Hunter, the Norfolk, Va., consultant who conducted the retail analysis, said of the survey. “It tells us people are already using downtown.”

The survey also showed that downtown’s usage rate increases as household income increases.

Approximately three-quarters of county households with incomes of $75,000 and above have been downtown for nonwork purposes in the past year.

“This is a strong environment for retailers and restaurants,” the survey said. “This contrasts with the image of many downtown areas.”

Across the survey sample, the average annual frequency of visits was 24. Only 6 percent of those surveyed said they had never visited the center city.

The highest frequency of visits occurs among those 18 to 24, confirming downtown’s reputation as a nighttime entertainment district, and those with household incomes of $100,000 or above. It is lowest among those 55 to 64.

The survey says restaurants are downtown’s most powerful draw (64 percent), followed by institutions such as the library, church or city/county/state/federal offices (61 percent); visiting Center City Park, Fun Fourth, Festival of Lights or other outdoor events (50 percent); or shopping (50 percent).

The “most liked” aspects of downtown were the selection of restaurants/bars/clubs (27 percent), entertainment and cultural events (21 percent) and community festivals and outdoor events (17 percent).

The “least liked” included not enough parking or parking too far from a destination (47 percent), traffic congestion (16 percent), and not enough stores/no retail diversity (14 percent).

When asked to suggest improvements, respondents most often said they want more stores or a broader retail offering, more parking and more restaurants.

As for housing, 63 percent said downtown would be a good place to live in general, while 28 percent said the center city would be a good place to live for themselves.

The survey, conducted in March, consisted of 400 telephone interviews and has a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percent.

Contact Donald W. Patterson at 373-7027 or don.patterson@news-record.com